Paragon of Sin

"..." Wei Wuyin silently analyzed the blood Crystal, his emotions slightly stirring. Jiang Feilan and Qing Qiumu were missing, vanishing mysteriously from the Elven Sanctuary without a single clue of their whereabouts. They weren't the only ones to have disappeared; however, Wei Wuyin knew where they were. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the place.

Not even the Legion Commander could find the location despite his vast powers that greatly exceeded the standards of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region. By his estimation, he'd need to meet certain conditions to do so, and he'll need the assistance of a powerful Heavenly Seer, likely even the Grand Seer of the Golden Gate Pavilion.

"I'll find you, Qing Qiumu—I promise." 

Remembering her gorgeously natural smile filled with warmth and gentleness caused his heart to suffer a pang of pain. The depths of his silver eyes flashed with seething saber light. Fortunately, he soon calmed his mind and thoughts, placing the Yin Renewal Essence Blood Crystal aside. 

Bai Xiu meticulously inspected it, deeply intrigued. 

Wei Wuyin carefully brought out another object, a cylindrical glass bottle the size of a baby. The bottle was clear, but a glowing white mist gently rolled within. 

"Boundless Mist of Heaven's Purity!" Bai Xiu cried out shockingly; her reaction was so intense that she trembled erratically as she clutched the bottle with her little fingers. Her eyes were wide as could be! "How did you…where did you find this?!" 

Wei Wuyin had a nostalgic smile, and memories uncontrollably flowed through his mind. This mist was previously referred to as Boundless Essence Mist, and he had located it in the Four Extreme Continent. It was a part of the Holy Ceremony of Divine Bestowal, the Demi-Mortal Blessing, the selection to find the Holy Child. At the time, all Wei Wuyin knew of the Boundless Essence Mist was the eccentric ramblings of a single Alchemist that believed that the mist was special, not just a product of water and wind energies. 

He was right; Boundless Essence Mist was called the Boundless Mist of Heaven's Purity, and its purpose was to cleanse the turbidity of objects before the Impartation of the Heavens that birthed demons. However, just like the Soul Ash of the Divine Jade, failures occurred, leaving behind these remnants that could be considered genuine treasures of the heavens. 

Unfortunately, alone and without proper cultivation, utilizing these items to the best of their potential was impossible. Furthermore, Wei Wuyin had solved a heavy mystery in his heart that plagued the Sealed Regions: Why did the Heavens fail so often?

The Sealed Regions' Sealing Array! It stifled the soul and, as such, often snuffed out the process via indirect interference. As one entered Secret Realms or World Realms, these failures would be more constant, if not nigh certain. This was why demons were rarely effectively born in the Sealed Regions.

Shockingly, though, was that demons were only born near the nodes of the Sealing Array. It heavily implied the effectiveness that the eye of the storm was often its weakest or calmest area. The Everlore Starfield was directly settled on a node, so it generated the most demons. The other two nodes were isolated, in the lifeless Dark Void, so the range of the 'eye of the storm' didn't reach any living location.

That said, strange void creatures existed and were often reported. These were often demons formed via planetary debris or deceased corpses of cultivators floating lifelessly in the Dark Void. 

"This is good stuff!" Bai Xiu excitedly exclaimed. 

Wei Wuyin nodded, "Materials like this are excruciatingly rare beyond the Sealed Regions. I'm fortunate to have collected quite a bit." Bai Xiu readily agreed, lovingly stroking the bottle. "Good stuff," she whispered gently with an expression of longing.

"Don't let her eat it," the Heavenly War Spirit warned gravely. 

Wei Wuyin had long since learned from the Heavenly War Spirit that materials like the Boundless Essence Mist were highly beneficial to Spiritforms like her, Wang Yutian, and Bai Xiu. The bottle was thoroughly sealed, and Bai Xiu understood not to consume it solely based on their mental connection. 

What Wei Wuyin brought out next was his artificially created material, the Infinite Dao Soul Ash. This material fueled his specialized line of Infinite Variations products that were tremendously beneficial to certain Spirits of Cultivations. The best characteristic of this item was the ability to experience endless transformations and permutations, constantly malleable in its intrinsic nature. Furthermore, it was forged from Soul Ash of the Divine Jade, another product of a failed Impartation of the Heavens. 

"I've never seen this before!" Bai Xiu cried out in shock. She had been merging the two cauldrons as one and thus hadn't assisted Wei Wuyin in any concoctions since. She shot over to grab the ever-changing jade, her body shaking uncontrollably. She opened her mouth, salivating at the mere thought of eating it. However, her willpower won in the end, and she depressingly placed it down. 

Wei Wuyin couldn't hold back his smile. "I'll feed you some after if I have any left." Wei Wuyin didn't mind testing out how effective it would be on Spiritforms like Bai Xiu, and if he could, he would've tested it on the Heavenly War Spirit when she told him about these types of desired items if she wasn't currently housed in her egg form within his Sea of Consciousness. 

"Okay! You promised!" His words brought a joyful gleam to Bai Xiu's eyes as she flew energetically around the cauldron. The previous exhaustion she felt seemed completely gone, invigorated by all these new things. 

Wei Wuyin's smile soon faded as he reached into his Saint Ring, finding an item that began the initial formation of his idea. He gently retrieved it, his eyes exuding wisps of emotions, and he brought out a rectangular golden box that glowed with cool light. 

Gingerly, he opened the box's lid. 

This item belonged to a cultivator that was, like him, captured by Trueborn. The cultivator was hung inside a cold, unfeeling cell without any limbs, like a piece of dead meat, as his Yang Energies was continuously extracted for five…hundred…years…

FIVE! HUNDRED! YEARS!

Unable to die, he was abused in darkness by people he didn't know, given periods of extreme pain over and over and over without the slightest restraint. He hadn't just been de-limbed, but the most precious treasure that identified him as a man, the pride of his gender and the tool to continue his family line, had been severed mercilessly. 

Bai Lin had shared her memories of his pleading words, state, and emotions to explain the origins of this item, and even now, after everything he had experienced, this was one of the most gruesome things he'd ever heard. 

"The Yang Source Quintessence of a Yang Renewal Physique," Bai Xiu halted her flight, her expression changing as she gazed at the golden bead no larger than a child's marble. "I sense…great turmoil from it. So much…resentment, pain, intense hatred, and agonizing desire for death." Her tone grew several times lower, her expression dignified as she eyed the golden bead gravely.

"..." Wei Wuyin remained silent, his eyes gradually tainted by inner darkness. 

"There's a little bit of happiness too—relief." Bai Xiu hovered her little hands over the golden bead. She solemnly said, almost uncharacteristically in tone and seriousness, "this Yang Source Quintessence is unimaginably large. Most male cultivators are the size of a speck of dust, but this is the size of a marble. The only way to cause such a change is for a cultivator to train their Yang Source through continuous usage or refinement.

"Either the one who this belonged to was so deprived to the limits of his sexual desire, or his Yang Energies was endlessly extracted for tens of thousands of years." Bai Xiu surmised. 

"Tens of thousands of years?" Wei Wuyin was stunned instantly. But then Bai Xiu's words allowed him to realize the reality of the matter; the Yang Renewal Physique can regrow their Yang Energies and damage their Yang Source endlessly, a unique property of their physique, but there were methods of replenishing Yang Energies. In Bai Xiu's estimation, this only meant that they went crazy constantly replenishing and extracting the cultivator's Yang Source before it could 'naturally' recover.

They farmed him…

Constantly.

Endlessly.

Like a daily cycle…

Tens of thousands of years condensed into five hundred…

How much did they push this man? How brutal were their actions? How uncaring? HOW VICIOUS! 

Wei Wuyin gritted his teeth. He wasn't a saint by any means, and he wasn't usually caring of other cultivators' plight, regardless of what they suffered, but whether it was because of being a man himself, he felt deeply affected by this matter. Perhaps it was due to receiving this item, this treasure of his, that Wei Wuyin felt this way.

Was it the Karmic Ties affecting him? 

He felt profoundly shaken, feeling as if the Heavenly Daos were readying him to act to slay sinners. 

In the end, Wei Wuyin suppressed his emotions once again. The journey that led him to this alchemical product thus far had caused him to collect many things, discover the truths of a few profound mysteries, and feel tethered to individuals emotionally. 

The next item was less complex, with no conflicting history. He had been 'gifted' it from the treasures from the Parasitic Clans of the Elementus Domain—the True Element Crystal! A unique Essence Refining Crystal that could absorb Elemental Intent, and then emulate and expel its exact essence structure to be cultivated. For example, Absolute Zero Ice Essence is extremely rare to find in massive quantities, but with Absolute Zero Ice Intent, Wei Wuyin could infuse it into the crystal and generate Absolute Zero Ice Essence. 

Wei Wuyin's eyes brightened considerably. With this, he would be able to create Apex-level Elemental Origin Essence. This was something that, even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to achieve with Elemental Heart Intent. While powerful, Elemental Origin Intent had limitations and could only effectively convert into Elemental Origin Energy, not Essence. 

Even if he tried, it was simply impossible because the essence quality converted wouldn't reach the same level as all nine Apex-level Elemental Essences. Not even the Eye of Creation could effectively replicate this feat! While it could get remarkably close, for some odd reason, he always fell short of true Apex-level Elemental Origin Essence. 

He had discovered this a little under six years ago, shortly after he began to fully organize his gains over the years while waiting for Lin Xianxian, Mei Yang, and the others to arrive. He was initially shaken by this discovery and tested it thoroughly to verify its abilities. 

This crystal was absolutely heaven-shaking, a genuine heavenly treasure! The value of Elemental Origin Essence was already inestimably high everywhere, but Apex-level Elemental Origin Essence could be considered priceless. 

"So many precious things!" Bai Xiu's eyes glowed, losing a little bit of their solemness. 

Wei Wuyin deeply inhaled and exhaled, likewise feeling the same. But they hadn't even gotten to the truly precious materials!